Fire and Ice

Twenty-One: Lucinda

My eyelids were heavy making them extremely hard to open. My eyes ached along with the rest of my body although my forearms seemed to hurt the most. I woke up in a dark room which made it easier for my eyes to adjust. I soon discovered that the dark room was my own but it seemed different. It didn't take long to discover what exactly was different.

I looked around my bedroom and realised that I was laying down in the comfort of my bed with the curtains closed. I looked down at my right forearm and saw a tube sticking into my vein. I followed the line of the tube all the way up to an IV drip bag. I frowned as I looked back at my arm. I reached over and scratched at the needle in my arm. I winced as I pulled the tube out of my arm with enough force that would surely leave a bruise. I began to sit up in my bed when hands pressed me back against the mattress. I stared wide eyed at girl pushing me back into bed.

"Don't get up Lucy," she told me. "You need to rest." I looked up at Corey not able to tear my eyes away from her.

"W-wha-what are you doing h-here?" I grounded out, my voice dry and scratchy. I ran a free hand over my throat realising just how thirsty I really was. How could my parents let Corey see me when my thirst felt so uncontrollable?

"You shouldn't be here," I told her softly. Corey's eyes dropped to the ground and she nodded her head. I did not mean it in a nasty way but merely stating a fact.

"I know," Corey said softly. She ran a hand through her blonde hair that hung loose around her shoulders. It was one of the only times I had seen her with her hair out. I tried to remember what else had taken place before I had woken up but everything seemed to be a blur.

"What happened?" I asked nervously. Corey looked back up at me with somber eyes and a sad sort of smile.

Corey took a deep breath before she told me everything. Her moment with Jasper on the roof and how he told her that there were hunters in town. How she discovered I was missing and that my pain had also hurt her. Her meeting with the alpha and how they formed together to attack the hunters to get me back. She told me pieces of the battle that I could slightly remember. She told me how she saw Hayden and that she witnessed Jasper's encounter with the hunters that caused my escape. While Corey was telling me everything in her perspective I started to remember everything that happened to me.

The stakes. The vervain. Hayden. The blood.

The blood, I thought. I looked back up at the IV bag only a quarter of a bag remaining of dark blood. I swallowed, trying to tame the beast within that wanted more than anything to drain every ounce of blood from that bag and more. I remembered brief flashes of Jasper handing me a blood bag and my attempt to consume it before it all came rushing back up. I frowned at the memory that made absolutely no sense to me. I turned my head to look at Corey, my eyes questioning her.

How long have I been here? I asked through our bond.

"A couple of days," Corey answered out loud. I sank back into my pillow in astonishment and confusion. "You were completely unconscious when we found you. You were burning up from the sunlight, so we brought you straight home so you could heal." I nodded my head, understanding.

"Have you caught up with Jasper?" I asked in an attempt to distract myself. Corey looked down at her tangled hands and slowly shook her head.

"I haven't seen him since the attack," Corey told me honestly. I frowned and tried to imagine where he could be.

"Have you gotten anymore bruises?" I asked remembering the strange connection between Jasper and Corey. If Jasper was hurting or had been hurt Corey's body would show the results - just as Jasper's would.